Skip navigation
Site powered by
Latest news:
msnbc.com: Top msnbc.com headlines: Clinton: Syria leader's 'rule by murder' must end

ESPN’s Andrews would love to go ‘Dancing’

Popular sideline reporter says she’d excel, unlike anchor Mayne before her

image: AndrewsGetty Images
Erin Andrews has been a reporter for ESPN since 2004.

As her fame has boomed, Erin Andrews has declined certain requests because they would detract from her standing as a working journalist. Dancing With the Stars, though, would not be one of those requests.

"I want to do it, because I think I'd be good at it," Andrews said yesterday, over a lunch of a hamburger and chicken noodle soup in downtown D.C. (I had iced tea. Too many freebie cookies from the Scripps National Spelling Bee.)

"I want to do it very badly," she continued. "That's the big push."

She joked with DWTS host Tom Bergeron about earning a spot last year during the Spelling Bee telecast, which Bergeron hosts. She said she would ask again this year; ABC is broadcasting the Bee finals tonight, with sideline reporting from Andrews.

"I love the show, and I've grown up around dancing," said Andrews, who, of course, was on the Dazzlers dance team when at Florida. "People say, 'Oh, you're a dancer, how could you do it?' But I've never taken ballroom, I've never partnered dance with anyone. I think I'd be in the top, unless I fall. I'm a big faller. If you fall, that's a hard fall, which I'm sure would make the Internet very happy."

Well, maybe one or two blogs would post something about Erin Andrews falling during an episode of Dancing With the Stars, I guess. Possibly. Depending on what else was happening that day. And so, Mr. Bergeron? Your move.

"Using my vast influence with the show, she's got about a 30 percent chance," said Bergeron, who added that Andrews's dancing history wouldn't be a problem as long as she's never done ballroom. "I know she'd be competitive. Look at her. Look at that ferocious, competitive face. She can actually be borderline violent." (He was joking.)

"And I think I need to represent," Andrews told me. "I love Kenny Mayne very much, he's a friend of mine, but I need to help ESPN's name on Dancing With the Stars. He did nothing for us on that show."

She's said this to others in recent days, but she was really, 100 percent serious. So there, that's out there. She couldn't do the fall season, of course, due to her work responsibilities, but she could make her schedule fit with the spring season. I can't imagine a scenario in which ABC and sports bloggers don't all benefit from this, so make it happen, producer people.

"I would love it love it love it," Andrews said. "I want to be like, 'Who do I call?' Let's do this."

Andrews will also be part of ESPN's coverage of the Bee, which starts at 10 a.m. today. More highlights from our conversation: